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On the second day, we woke up early. Basically we woke early every day. Haha. After cleaning ourselves and having breakfast, we waited to be picked up. That's when the 'drama' started.
We bought a City Sightseeing + Countryside Tour + Canal Cruise package from one of the female receptionist in the hostel the day before. According to her, the bus would pick us up the next day at 8.55am in front of the hostel. And so we waited until then, but to our dismay, no sight of the bus nor anyone else besides us waiting. We quickly inquired from another male receptionist who was at the desk then. He called the company and found out that we were supposed to be waiting at the park instead! And now we were to get to the gathering point at 9am where the bus would set off.
So we quickly grab our stuff and ran to get the tram, hopefully in time to reach there. We first took the tram to Central Station, then ran another few miles to the gathering point. I was out of breathe by then. Panting and catching for breath. Yet we were asked to go from one place to another by the staff of this particular tour we purchased. You might not have the slightest idea of what the situation was and what the heck I am blabbing about. Just one thing here, I was super unsatisfied with the inaccurate information given by the receptionist and also the staffs who were quite ignorant.
After much waiting, we wouldn't need to rush in the first place, finally we started with our city sightseeing. Everyone were seated on the bus with a portable top, enable better view of the sky and scenery. We were all given a new headset and there are ports beside every seat where audio guides of few languages such as Dutch, Italic, Spanish, Korean, Mandarin, etc. can be chosen.
Old school bus
Ah Bui: I can reach the top! Hehe
Bubu: Ze diam diam la. (Sit quietly)
We were brought to a tour around the city of Amsterdam. Briefly explained to us about the buildings, streets and also some of the history of the city itself. We managed to get a good view of the city and learnt some about its culture and management.
The tour stopped by one of the biggest diamond factory in Amsterdam, Gassan Diamond. We were told that this particular factory produced among the best diamonds in the world. The lady working there kindly taught us how to identify the quality of a diamond, which of course determines its value. The 4C, namely carat (1 carat=0.2g), colour, clarity and cut explain it all.
Gassan Diamond
After the tour, we were brought back to where we started and waited for the next schedule, the countryside tour to start. While waiting, we frequent the Manneken Pis, which claimed voted first for their Holland fries. However we made one huge mistake, we ordered a large one. When handed the fries, we were shocked. How are we suppose to finish them? Lol.
Manneken Pis. You can't go wrong with the two huge fries stand by the side of the stall.
Our large fries with Holland mayonnaise. Yummy!! The best mayonnaise I ever tasted.
Our first stop at the countryside was Marken, a historical village known for its wooden clog factory. We were in awe by the beauty of the village. The houses are painted in either black or green as during the older days when paint had yet to be invented, the people painted with grass (green) or dirt (black). Until now, their descendants continue such practice.
A homey country house. How I wish I could own one like this
The wooden clog is among the first that came in mind when one speaks of Netherlands. Therefore, we were brought to visit its factory. There we were demonstrated on the production of the wooden clog by using the barks of the willow trees due to the absent of sap in it.
In front of the Wooden Clog Factory
Machines used to produce the wooden clogs
Revolution of the wooden clog. Bottom up
Next, we boarded a boat and set off to Volendam. This was once a fishing village, which was why rows of ships and boats were parked on the side of the deck. However, now it was more to a tourist center with bars, souvenier shops, a museum in the middle and stalls selling ice-cream and poffertjes (little Dutch pancake).
By the deck
Amidst the village
We had our second round of lunch at a local bar. Part of the reason was to find shelter from the strong chilly wind and rain. I found it so hard to believe that it was actually SUMMER!
The bar top
Our orders of normal and apple pancake. Delicious~
By the it was almost 4pm. We hopped back to our bus and off we went to Zaanse Schans, a picturesque UNESCO-listed windmill village. It was totally like how I imagined. One could stand on the wide patches of green field and sing his heart out while the wind brushing his hair and face, windmill turning behind while the livestock grazing on the grass beside.
We first visited the cheese factory. A Dutch lady introduced on the process of cheese-making before leading us to sample the different types of cheese. Cheesilicios indeed.
Blocks of cheese
We were then free to walk around on our own, snapping pictures and took in what nature provided.
We were back in Amsterdam city by evening. The city canal cruise lay ahead of our schedule. While waiting for our turn, we made good use of time and had one more photo session. Hehe
Behind the red banner were parked hundreds of bicycles. It is one of the common mode of transport for the locals as there are even lanes specially for bicycles on the road. 
The boat we were about to take
We were cruised around the many canals in the city. As a matter of fact, the Amsterdam canals fill a full quarter of the city's surface area. There used to be much more in the 17th Century but are now filled for different purposes. There are quite a number of house boats parked alongside the canal.
Inside the boat
It was indeed a tiring day having to walk around so much, especially in such cold weather. We had leftover of salads for dinner and headed to bed.
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